[Hodgdon Extreme]

On ebay, there's 10,000 choices of various replacement headlamp housings. Looking for a little help choosing the best ones. Not looking for some crazy aftermarket look with angel eyes or anything.

Mine are original. I polished them up nice a few years back but they're looking foul again.

Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[_zaclemore]

Here's one: LEXUS OEM FACTORY PASSENGER HEADLAMP LENS & HOUSING 2001-2003 IS300 81145-53041 | eBay

The other isn't listed. I hope they're still available.

 

[Hodgdon Extreme]

Thanks. I was hoping I could spend $175ish on a pair of aftermarket headlamps vs spending $250+ each on OEM units.

Are the aftermarket ones crap for the IS300? I bought some a couple years back for my 2001 Subaru and they fit/work great...

 

[DemonIs300]

I bought some SPPC generic brand like 5 or 6 years ago, swap over the ballast and stuff. They still work great, I only had to heat them up and reseal the headlight because they weren't properly sealed at the time. Other than that....they haven't fogged up or hazed like OEM. I bought the black housing ones.

 

[DemonIs300]

https://www.amazon.com/SPPC-Project...mzn1.fos.d977788f-1483-4f76-90a3-786e4cdc8f10 are the ones I bought

 

[fishr221]

I bought an eBay pair black housings around 2 yrs ago. They fit great and look much better than the faded ones I had, but I had a hard time adjusting the beam pattern to shine nice and even like the stock ones. They still shine great though and haven’t faded. Some of the clear coat has peeled but that was my fault since I damaged it when I installed it.

 

[TobiasSing]

Every time I bought aftermarket headlights, I always got the cheapest option. Because I always used them for retrofitting. The headlights are very good quality and fit amazing and are completely stock and have no issues. However, the only problem is that they have significantly worse output on the road (which is arguably the most important thing head lights do). If you don't really care, then they work great for cheap. Or, you can swap internals around no problem and have a perfect set of OEM lights for cheap. Or just retrofit the new ones.

 

[Hodgdon Extreme]

the only problem is that they have significantly worse output on the road (which is arguably the most important thing head lights do)

I installed high quality LED bulbs into the inexpensive aftermarket housings I bought for my 2001 Subaru... the illumination is excellent. Really excellent. It helps that like IS300, the hi/low bulbs are totally separate - so turning on the highs does not turn off the lows.

...also installed yellow 150W PIAA projection lamps where the OEM foglights went... oncoming drivers using their high beams (and unwilling to dim when you give them a flash) do NOT appreciate my high beams + low beams + "fog" lights.

 

[TobiasSing]

I installed high quality LED bulbs into the inexpensive aftermarket housings I bought for my 2001 Subaru... the illumination is excellent. Really excellent.

Ah yes, that's because the Subaru has halogen lights to begin with. Those reflectors do not need to be nearly as precise as HID reflectors do, since halogen doesn't put out nearly as much light as HID. It's like the IS300 head light makers just made the aftermarket head lights to low halogen standards. I assume your Subaru had reflectors, if it had projectors, then yeah that works with LED just fine. But the way teh aftermarket IS300 head lights are, they just don't have the control that OEM does. Though, putting LEDs in an IS300 isn't going to be an upgrade compared to new quality HIDs. Point is, you can buy the Ebay lights just fine without worry.

 

[A-to-the-J]

If you go aftermarket, swap out the breather and get the lens cleared.